Week 2 and 3: July Repitition and Motivation

It is always a good idea to correlate your singing times with the weekly themes found in the 2010 Outline for Sharing Time. Sometimes this is easier said than done, but it is a great goal to have nonetheless! The next two week's themes are:

Week 2: Jesus Christ went about doing good.
Week 3: Jesus Christ's example teaches me how to live.

Following are some ideas to encourage the kids to sing through "Come Follow Me" as many times as possible and motivate them to do it with a smile on their face and in their heart. As you notice, I have not specified exact ways to correlate the weekly theme with the singing in each idea. That's ok....that is why we also have sharing time. Plus, by singing "Come Follow Me" and reviewing the words and meanings you will naturally be following the weekly and monthly theme.

• Tabernacle Choir: This one would definitely be geared more toward the Senior Primary, but could be adapted to Junior. Pass out hymn books to the children so that there is one for at least every two kids. Remind the children that this song is a Hymn, invite them to turn to page #116 and review the origins of it found at the bottom of the page. Explain that many of the songs sung by the Tabernacle Choir are from our Hymn Book. Talk with the children about how the Tabernacle Choir sounds, looks, performs, etc. Remind the children that they are a choir and have the potential to be just as wonderful as the Tabernacle Choir. You can then sing through all the verses, or just the ones you are focusing on and have the children work on: sitting up tall, sitting and standing in unison, dynamics, holding notes out together, cutting off together, sing the song slowly with extra enunciation, sing the song a little faster (it is still a reverent song), etc.


• Treasure Hunt: This idea is set up the same as the hunt described in the last post (you don't have to number the footprints, though). Instead of words in each bag, place a picture of Jesus doing good (week 2) or ways we can follow Jesus example in our own life (week 3). In this hunt the Primary children will have to Sing "Come Follow Me" as each detective follows the colored footprints to the next bag. The detective, with your help, will move slowly or quickly depending on how well the primary sings. In some cases I have not allowed the detective to make it all the way to the next bag the first time the song is sung, but have had the Primary sing through it again because it wasn't good enough the first time. Once the detective has reached the bag/clue, reveal the picture and discuss it with the children. You can pick a corresponding song to go with each picture to break up the practice on "Come Follow Me". The treasure will be the same as in the previous post.


• Balloon/Ball Pass: Prepare balloons with scenerios the kids will have to resolve, scriptures highlighting Jesus' example or difficult words in this month's song. Give a balloon to a child on each side of the room and have them begin passing the balloon around as the Primary sings "Come Follow Me". When the piano stops, invite the two children holding a balloon to pop the balloon and complete the task as you have prepared it: solve the scenerio, read the scripture and discuss, or explain the word. If their are children who do not like to hear the balloon pop or do it themselves you can provide a pin for popping or scissors for cutting (the balloon will not "pop" with scissors, just slowly lose air). Another modification of this activity is to use a ball and invite the children to come up with ways to follow Jesus when the music stops. You can also use a beach ball and write questions, scriptures, words, or scenerios on the different sections. When the music stops the children have to read the section under their right thumb.


• Chorister Says: This activity can be used to highlight the importance of following Jesus. Invite the children to follow you as you tap different body parts for each phrase in the song. (head, shoulders, elbows, nose, etc.) After one time through the song, begin to invite other children up to lead the group or pick a teacher to come up. You can add a little to the activity by preparing items that remind us of ways to follow Jesus. Once the item is selected the kids can follow the leader as he/she acts it out throughout the song. An example of this might be a shovel to represent service and the kids could shovel while singing...the possibilites are endless on this one.


• Shape Shuffle: Write the words to the verse(s) on a posterboard. Outline each phrase or groups of words with different shapes. (You could also just write the different phrases on different shapes) Sing through the entire song and then begin picking shapes out of a bag. When a shape is taken cover that portion of the song or remove the shape. You can also assign each class or groups of classes a different shape and make them responsible for that phrase. Sing through the song with each class singing their assigned shape. This will become harder as the shapes are removed. You can also continually rotate shapes throughout the singing. You can also provide the teachers with signs designating which shape their class is.


• Pick-A-Picture Memory: Select a picture to represent each phrase in the song. You will need two of each picture as well as a wordstrip with the phrases to place on each picture. Play memory with the pictures and as each match is made, practice the corresponding phrase. You can also add in different ways to sing the particular phrase, ie. boys/girls/teachers, loud, soft, etc. You can also discuss the selected picture once a match is made to remind the children how it helps them remember how Jesus lived and how we can follow His example.